Why Developmental Milestones Will Make you Crazy
Before you delve into Bundoo’s coverage of developmental milestones, I think it’s important to mention a few things. First, reading “week by week” milestone books for your baby’s first year is a bit like reading “week by week” pregnancy books. They will stress you out if what you are reading does not perfectly align with what you are experiencing personally or with your infant. Here at Bundoo, we give you broad overviews of developmental stages, but keep in mind that these are not deadlines. We divide our milestones into months, instead of weekly increments. We do this because development from infant to infant varies so much week to week that we don’t believe it’s necessary to try tracking week-by-week changes (and we have no desire to stress you out).
We want you to understand development so you can understand what your pediatrician is looking for when you take your infant to a well child exam, or check-ups. A good pediatrician will ask key questions about all areas of development at each visit. Many even use a standard questionnaire to help identify areas of concern. The questions focus on gross motor development (i.e., sitting, standing), fine motor development (i.e., picking up a small object), social development (i.e., smiling when smiled at) and language development (i.e., cooing).
Most important, we discuss developmental milestones to emphasize that each and every baby is different and achieves each milestone on their own terms. It is so easy to fall into a trap of comparing your infant to another one—speaking as a pediatrician, I’d be so happy if you could find a way not compare your baby to any other baby (although we know you can’t help it)!
There are so many variables to development in the first year and each baby needs to be trusted to follow their own path. For example, some babies walk at 10 months and some not until nearly 18 months! That is a huge difference, and yet both can be normal. The idea is to have general awareness of the sequence of events and to support your infant confidently along that sequence. Any concerns can and should be brought up with your baby’s doctor.
We hope you enjoy each change your baby experiences. Watching your baby change over the first year and then your toddler change over the next two years is simply amazing. Feel free to share with us the fun, funny and unexpected things you see your baby do each day. We love to hear about all of them!
Newborn to 1 Month: Emotional Development
Newborn to 1 Month: Physical Development
Newborn to 1 Month: Cognitive Development
2-4 Months: Emotional Development
2-4 Months: Physical Development
2-4 Months: Cognitive Development
5-7 Months: Emotional Development
5-7 Months: Physical Development
5-7 Months: Cognitive Development
8-12 Months: Emotional Development
8-12 Months: Physical Development
8-12 Months: Cognitive Development
12-15 Months: Emotional Development
12-15 Months: Physical Development
12-15 Months: Cognitive Development
16-19 Months: Emotional Development
16-19 Months: Physical Development
16-19 Months: Cognitive Development
20-24 Months: Emotional Development
20-24 Months: Physical Development
20-24 Months: Cognitive Development
Reviewed by Dr. Sara Connolly, December 2018
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